Time has run out for a desolate Downriver shopping center that once housed dozens of stores — many long out of business — and hosted a rain-soaked re-election rally for President Ronald Reagan in 1984.

Excavator machines are tearing through what remains of the Lincoln Park Shopping Center at Southfield Road and Dix Highway. The wedge-shaped strip mall dates to 1957 and was connected by a covered walkway to a still-open Sears store that has its own water tower.

The site is next to a Big Boy and, until several weeks ago, was a neighbor to an old Farmer Jack that is now gone.

The shopping center had been empty for about two years. Its last known tenants included Dollar Tree, Rainbow USA and a restaurant simply called Chinese Buffet. It also once had an eight-screen movie theater.

The property's owner, a limited liability company associated with Farmington Hills-based Grand Sakwa Properties, is behind the demolition and envisions a potential redevelopment there at the 13-acre site, according to Lincoln Park City Manager Matt Coppler.

However, Grand Sakwa has yet to announce or submit any specific development plans.

"I know they are trying to put together a project," Coppler said. "But at this point they really haven't shared much with us."

A Grand Sakwa representative did not return repeated messages seeking comment for this article.

Grand Sakwa previously sought to put a Wal-Mart on the property. But those plans were scrapped after the Michigan Court of Appeals in 2012 sided with Sears in a legal dispute over a service drive easement for the site.

Downriver nostalgia

Many Downriver residents have fond memories of Lincoln Park Shopping Center and its lively heyday.

Mary Teachout, 62, of Allen Park recalled this week how, as a teenager, she and her friends would walk and hang out at the strip mall, which they called "the Sears shopping center."

Her favorite places there to shop were Arlan's, and later Winkelman's. Both store chains have been out of business for years.

It became obvious in recent years that the center was nearing its end, she said, especially once just one or two stores remained. The final tenant was Dollar Tree, which relocated to the opposite side of Southfield Road.

Nevertheless, Teachout was startled this month when, during a shopping trip to Sears, she saw the strip mall being ripped apart.

"I was shocked to see it like this," Teachout said, surveying the half-demolished structures and piles of debris. "It's been empty, but it's sad to see it go."

A crowd of about 9,000 once packed the shopping center's parking lot to see Reagan during his final dash through Michigan before the November 1984 election.

The lot was sectioned off by large trucks driven by Michigan Teamsters, who had endorsed the Republican president's re-election, according to a Free Press article about the Nov. 1 rally.

Buy Photo

President Ronald Reagan holds up Tigers shortstop Alan Trammell's jacket presented by team owner Tom Monaghan, at right of the podium. Senate candidate Jack Lousma stands behind Reagan and Oakland County Prosecutor L. Brooks Patterson is by Monaghan. They are at the Sears in Lincoln Park on Nov. 1, 1984.(Photo: John Collier, Detroit Free Press)

There was a break in the daylong drizzle at the start of Reagan's stump speech. Yet then a downpour hit in the middle of the president's speech, drenching the audience.

The country was then coming out of a bad recession, and Reagan touted his first term's tax cuts and claimed credit for the slowing inflation rate. At one point, Reagan shared the stage with current Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson (then county prosecutor) and Detroit Tigers owner Tom Monaghan, who presented the president with shortstop Alan Trammell's jacket.

Sears still open

The shopping center's two-story Sears is said to be one of the better-performing Sears in the country. It has survived multiple rounds of store closures for the struggling retail chain.

"The joke is that that will be the last one they keep open," said Coppler, the city manager. "There is a lot of traffic going into that Sears. It serves a pretty big area and there's not a lot of Sears around here anymore."

Buy Photo

Jay and Deborah Benitez of Melvindale outside of the Sears at the Lincoln Park Shopping Center in Lincoln Park on March 5, 2018.(Photo: JC Reindl, Detroit Free Press)

Jay and Deborah Benitez of Melvindale are among the loyal Lincoln Park Sears shoppers. They can recall visiting the Chinese Buffet in the shopping center before it closed, as well as the old movie theater and a toy store that was once there.

"As long as the Sears is still open, it's all good," Jay Benitez said.